Classrooms are complex social systems, and student-teacher relationships
and interactions are also complex, multicomponent systems. We posit that
the nature and quality of relationship interactions between teachers and
students are fundamental to understanding student engagement, can be
assessed through standardized observation methods, and can be changed
by providing teachers knowledge about developmental processes relevant
for classroom interactions and personalized feedback/support about their
interactive behaviors and cues. When these supports are provided to teachers’
interactions, student engagement increases. In this chapter, we focus
on the theoretical and empirical links between interactions and engagement
and present an approach to intervention designed to increase the quality of
such interactions and, in turn, increase student engagement and, ultimately,
learning and development. Recognizing general principles of development
in complex systems, a theory of the classroom as a setting for development,
and a theory of change specifi c to this social setting are the ultimate goals
of this work. Engagement, in this context, is both an outcome in its own